by TM Petaccia

Award-winning Southern Star whiskeys from Southern Distilling Company. TM Petaccia/UP

At the San Francisco World Spirits Competition award announcements held on Thursday, April 27, Stateville’s Southern Distilling Company was the recipient of six medals for excellence in bourbon and rye whiskeys.

The distiller received a double gold medal for its Southern Star Paragon Cask Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Only one year since its initial release, Paragon is a wheated  bourbon (70% corn, 16% wheat, 14% malted barley).

Pete and Vienna Barger from Southern Distilling Company. Photo courtesy

“This is one of the most prestigious spirits competitions in the country,” says Southern Distilling co-owner Vienna Barger, who with husband Pete founded the distillery in 2013. “We’re proud that six spirits we entered received recognition this year, including our brand new Hunting Creek.”

Dot Dot Dot’s Stefan Huebner partnered with Southern Distilling at the 2023 StrEATs Festival, using their spirits for cocktail demonstrations. “It is amazing to see a local distillery do so well at the national level,” he says. “Paragon Cask is an amazing whiskey With green notes of vanilla and caramel. It’s very easy to drink at high proof.”

Hunting Creek Rye Whiskey received a 2023 gold medal. The only Southern Distilling winner not under the Southern Star label, it had its debut release just last month. This bottled-in-bond rye is styled after a rye whiskey made in the Statesville area in the late 1800s and was one of the country’s first nationally shipped brands.

Bottled-in-Bond whiskies are ones which have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume).

Southern Distilling earned silver medals for its Southern Star Standard High-Rye Straight Bourbon, Southern Star Paragon Bottled-in-Bond Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Southern Star Double Rye Whiskey, and Southern Star Double Shot Bourbon Cream Liqueur.

All Southern Distilling medal winners are listed as available at select Mecklenburg County ABC stores. Check the Mecklenburg ABC website for specific store availability.

The only other North Carolina distiller to be recognized this year was Fainting Goat Spirits in Greensboro, which received a 2023 gold medal for its Fisher’s Small Batch Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon.

Founded in 2000, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition awards medals through a series of blind taste tests. Levels of awards are bronze, silver, gold, double gold, and platinum. You can see the full list of 2023 winners at the SFWSC website.